USA > Ohio > Biographical and historical memoirs of the early pioneer settlers of Ohio, with narratives of incidents and occurrences in 1775 > Part 17
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The next military event in which Gen. Tupper is known to have been engaged, was in August, 1776, when he was sent in command of a number of gun-boats, or galleys, up the North river. Near Fort Washington an engagement took place between these boats and several ships of war belonging to the enemy. Gen. Washington makes honor- able mention of this engagement, in his letter dated August 5th, 1776, as follows :
" The inclosed copy of a letter from Col. Tupper, who had the general command of the galleys, will inform Congress of the engagement between them and the ships of war up the North river, on Saturday evening, and of the damage we sustained. What injury was done to the ships I cannot ascertain. It is said they were hulled several times by our shot. All accounts agree that our officers and men, during
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the whole of the affair, behaved with great spirit and bra- very. The damage done to the galleys shows, beyond ques- tion, that they had a warm time of it." See Washington's letter, vol. ii, p. 176. In this engagement his eldest son, then thirteen years of age, was with him.
In the campaign of 1777, Col. Tupper served with his regiment in the northern army under Gen. Gates. What part he took in the battle of Bemis' hights is not known; but he is mentioned by Wilkinson, in his memoir, as attend- ing a council with Gen. Larned, Col. Wilkinson, Col. Brooks, and others, the day after that battle, in regard to a retreat of the left wing of the American army, which had been pre- cipitated on the enemy when they held a strong position across the Fishkill. The left wing, according to the sugges- tion of Wilkinson, fell back half a mile, which position was held until the surrender of Burgoyne.
In 1778, Col. Tupper served under Gen. Washington, and was in the battle of Monmouth, June 28th, on which occa- sion he had his horse killed under him.
In 1780, he had charge of the work of preparing and stretching a chain across the Hudson at West Point. The work was completed in April, and placed in the river under his direction.
In May, 1781, Col. Tupper returned to his family on fur- lough. While at home he took an important part in dis- persing a mob arising out of the arrest and trial of one Samuel Eli, for high treason, at Northampton.
During the campaign of 1781, the Indian and Tory refu- gees threatened the northern frontier of New York, on the Mohawk and Lake George. A regiment from Massachu- setts was sent up into that quarter. In September or Octo- ber an action took place between these troops and some Tories and Indians, in which the major of the regiment was killed. After the action, Gen. Stark, who commanded on
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the northern frontier, sent out a scout to Lake George. The officers reported that they had discovered the camp of a large force, by their fire. Stark immediately sent off an express to head-quarters for a reinforcement, and Col. Tupper's regiment, with Col. Kinston's, of New York, went up. While they were waiting for the enemy, the news from the main army reached them that Cornwallis had sur- rendered at Yorktown. With this event the war was in effect closed. Col. Tupper's regiment, however, remained at the north. About the close of the war he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general by brevet. After the close of the war he returned to his family at Chesterfield, and soon after was elected by his town as their representative in the Legis- lature of Massachusetts.
During the darkest period of the Revolutionary war, Gen. Washington had turned the attention of officers and soldiers to the valley of the Ohio, as a place of refuge to which they might retire, should the British army be successful against them. The result of that war rendered such a re- treat unnecessary ; notwithstanding, many of the officers and soldiers of the army looked to the west as a retiring place for themselves and their families, after a war of eight years. Among the most prominent of this class was Gen. Tupper. Indeed, in the foresight of Gen. Rufus Putnam and himself, the enterprise of the settlement at Marietta had its origin.
The ordinance 'of 1785 provided for a survey of a portion of the lands northwest of the river Ohio. In the summer of that year the first regiment of United States troops, or one battalion of them, had taken post at the mouth of the Muskingum, under the command of Maj. Doughty, and erected a fort, which received the name of Fort Harmer. In that year Gen. Rufus Putnam had been appointed to command the survey of a portion of the lands in Ohio, but
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being otherwise engaged, Gen. Tupper was appointed in his place. In the summer of that year he came as far west as Pittsburg. The condition of the Indian tribes prevented the execution of that work until the treaty made by Gen. Par- sons, and others, on the Miami, in January, 1786. Gen. Tupper returned to Massachusetts in the winter of 1785-6, but left again for the west in June, 1786, with his eldest son, Maj. Anselm Tupper. That season the survey of the seven ranges was completed, under his direction. During that season he visited Maj. Doughty, at Fort Harmer.
On Gen. Tupper's return from his first visit to the west, he visited his friend, Gen. Rufus Putnam, then residing at Rutland. In the language of another, "A night of friendly offices and conference between them, gave at the dawn a development to the cherished hope and purpose of Gen. Tupper. They united in a publication which appeared in the public papers of New England, on the 25th of January, 1786, headed ' Information,' dated January 10th, 1786, signed Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper."
As the result of this conference and address, the Ohio Company was formed. Dr. M. Cutter, in connection with Winthrop Sargent, was appointed to negotiate a contract with Congress for land. At the third meeting of the com- pany at Boston, August 29th, 1787, Dr. Cutter reported that the contract had been completed.
The spirit of disorganization which had manifested itself in Massachusetts in 1781, was not entirely eradicated; on the contrary, it made its appearance in a more formidable and extensive manner in 1786-7, in what is termed Shays' insurrection. The only officers of the Revolutionary army engaged in this affair were Shays, who had been a captain in Gen. Putnam's regiment, Capt. Wiley, and Ensign Day. Each of them had a party, and their aggregate force amounted to about two thousand men. When Gen. Tupper
their
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returned from the west, after completing the survey of the seven ranges, this insurrection had assumed a formida- ble aspect. Immediately on his return he took an active part in putting it down. The duty of calling out the militia to suppress this rebellion, devolved on Gen. Shepard, who acted under the orders of the governor. Gen. Tupper of- fered his services to him, and acted in the capacity of volun- tary aid. By his advice, and through his influence, the plan of calling out the militia by drafts or in mass was abandoned, and that of calling for volunteers adopted. This was a measure of the first importance, as it served to distinguish between the friends of the government and those who were secretly infected with the spirit of rebellion. Under this plan, out of a company in Chesterfield, fifteen to eighteen offered their services. In the northern part of Hampshire county, an entire regiment was organized for this service, to meet at Chesterfield. Gen. Tupper had been appointed a justice of the peace about two years previous. His ef- forts, in connection with an address to the people, which he had made a short time before, combined with the presence of the volunteers, had made a favorable impression on many persons of good standing. While the regiment raised in the northern part of the county were being assembled at Chesterfield, Gen. Tupper, as magistrate, administered the oath of allegiance, as prescribed by the laws of the state, to many of the people. This was also a measure which served to distinguish the friends of law from the mob.
The immediate object of Shays and his party was to get possession of the arms and public stores at Springfield. At that point, therefore, the troops raised by the state were con- centrated. Gen. Tupper, after his arrival at Springfield, acting under the orders of Gen. Shepard, took charge of the organization of the different companies as they arrived. He ordered the different fragments of companies into regular 15
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order, and officered them out of the best officers on the ground. He also organized a small troop of horse, under Capt. Buffington; and selected all who were in any man- ner acquainted with artillery duty, adding others to them, and had them all regularly trained every day. The men were all armed from the arsenal, the arms being there in good order, and all things were put in the best possible or- der for defense. Shays was not, however, in any hurry to make an attack, as he wished to increase his force. Gen. Shepard's orders from the governor, were simply to defend the stores; however, he made no effort to disturb any of Shays' men. The consequence was that Shays' different parties collected around Gen, Shepard's camp, and cut off his supplies from the country. In the meantime, Gen. Lin- coln had collected a body of men at Bristol, to aid Gen. Shepard. Two weeks elapsed before any movement was made by Gen. Lincoln. An express was sent to him, to in- form him of the situation of Gen. Shepard. When the express reached Gen. Lincoln, only a part of his troops were ready to march, but he immediately pushed on one division, by forced marches; but before they reached Spring- field, Shays had made his attack, and been defeated. By some means Capt. Buffington had intercepted a letter from Shays to some of his subordinates, directing the manner of attack. On obtaining this letter, Gen. Tupper took imme- diate measures to fortify the camp by log forts, commenced like block-houses, at each point of attack, and three brush forts as outworks. This was done with great promptness and dispatch. In the meantime, the troops were supplied with provisions by the people of Springfield.
Shays finally advanced to attack Gen. Shepard. He was repeatedly warned not to approach any nearer; but he treated all these messages not only with neglect, but con- tempt. Cannon were first fired over his column, but this
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was disregarded. At last, a field-piece was brought to bear upon Shays' advance, and the first shot killed four of his men. This was a more effectual hint. They immediately recoiled, broke their ranks, and fled. They were rallied by Shays, at Pelham, where he remained for awhile. In con- sequence of the interception of the letter from Shays to some of his officers, which fell into the hands of Capt. Buf- fington, Wiley and Day, of Shays' party, were not engaged in the affair at Springfield. Gen. Lincoln arrived from Bris- tol on the second day after the defeat of Shays, and took immediate measures to dislodge Day from West Springfield, and Wiley from Chickopee bridge; but before the movement could be made, they had fallen back, and joined Shays at Pelham. Some of their men were taken prisoners at West Springfield. Such of them as would take the oath of alle- giance, were sent home, and the rest detained as prisoners. Shays retreated to Petersham, where his adherents were finally dispersed by Gen. Lincoln. Before this, however, Gen. Putnam made an ineffectual attempt to withdraw Shays from his party, but failed to accomplish his object. Shays himself appeared disposed to listen to the advice of Gen. Putnam, but he informed the general that his friends would not suffer him to leave them.
Within a day or two after the defeat of Shays at Spring- field, Gen. Tupper was discharged, and returned at North- ampton, where he was visited by many of his old friends. Known also as having visited the Ohio country, many per- sons called upon him to inquire about the lands, rivers, &c., of the valley of the Ohio. In the spring he went to Worcester to see Gen. Putnam, and concert measures to set forward the proposed emigration to Ohio. Dr. Cutler having completed the contract for lands, the first thing to be done was to raise the money necessary for their object. Many formidable dif- ficulties which attended the organization of the company
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were overcome, and Gen. Tupper began his own arrange- ments for moving to the Ohio in the summer of 1787. At that period wagon-makers were not common, even in New England. One, however, was obtained, and two wagons were built, one for the family, the other for their baggage With his own family, including that of Ichabod Nye, his son- in-law, that of Col. Nathaniel Cushing, and Maj. Goodale, they made their way to the Ohio river, which they reached at Wellsburg, then Buffalo, where they were joined by the family of Maj. Coburn and his son-in-law, Andrew Webster. These families formed, in fact, the first settlers of Ohio, and arrived at Marietta on the 9th of August, 1788. The men who came on with Gen. Putnam, had none of them families with them, and had been previously discharged.
After his arrival at Marietta, Gen. Tupper was actively engaged in promoting the plans and interests of the Ohio company, being intimately associated with Gen. Putnam in the management of its affairs.
On the 9th of September, 1788, the first civil court in the Northwestern Territory was held at Col. Battelle's, in Campus Martius. This was the Court of Quarter Sessions. Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper were justices of the quorum, assisted by justices of the bar.
Judge Putnam gave the charge to the grand jury. After one or two sessions Judge Tupper presided, until his death, in June, 1792.
At an early period in his life, Gen. Tupper made a pub- lic profession of the Christian religion, by uniting with the Congregational church at Easton. After his arrival at Ma- rietta, he did not forget his obligation. His efforts were directed to preserve to his family and associates the ben- efits of public and social worship of God. Before the arrival of the Rev. Daniel Story, the first minister, meet- ings for social worship were held on the Sabbath. The
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usual place of worship was the same room in which the first court was held, near the west corner of the stockade.
Gen. Tupper had seven children, three sons and four daughters. His sons were Anselm, Edward White, and Ben- jamin Tupper.
Maj. Anselm Tupper died at Marietta on the 25th of De- cember, 1808. Col. Benjamin Tupper died at Putnam, in February, 1815. Gen. Edward W. Tupper died at Gallipolis, in 1823. His daughter, Miss Rosoma, who married Gov. Winthrop Sargeant, died at Marietta, in 1790. Sophia, who married Nathaniel Willys, Esq., now of Conn., then of Mass., died in October, 1789. Minerva married Col. Ichabod Nye, and died at Marietta in April, 1836. The other daughter died young, before the family emigrated to Ohio. The only representative of the family bearing the family name, is Edward W. Tupper, of Putnam, son of Benjamin Tup- per, jun.
COL. EBENEZER SPROAT.
COL. EBENEZER SPROAT was born in Middleborough, Mass., in the year 1752. He was the son of Col. Ebenezer Sproat, a respectable yeoman, who owned one of the finest farms in that vicinity, with a large, commodious dwelling-house, which, for many years before, and during the Revolutionary . war, was occupied as a tavern. Like his son, he was an uncommonly tall and portly man. He was a colonel in the militia; and the venerable John Howland, from whom many of these facts were derived, says, that when the British took possession of Newport and a part of Rhode Island, he per- formed a tour of duty with his regiment in Providence. A brother of Ebenezer was a lawyer, and settled in Taunton.
His early education must have been the best the schools* afforded at that day, as he was familiar with the principles and practice of surveying. During his boyhood and youth, he assisted his father in cultivating the farm; and when the war of Independence commenced, it found him in the prime of manhood, with a frame invigorated by the toils of agri- culture, and fitted, by labor, to undergo all the perils and hardships of a soldier's life. He entered the service as cap- tain of a company, and soon rose to the post of major, in the tenth regiment of the Massachusetts line, commanded by Col. Shepherd. In 1778, Glover's brigade of four regi- ments was stationed at Providence, at which time he was a lieutenant-colonel, and said to be the tallest man in the brig- ade, being six feet and four inches high, with limbs formed in nature's most perfect model. In the duties of his station, he excelled as much as in size, being the most complete
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disciplinarian in the brigade. His social habits, pleas- ant, agreeable manners, and cheerful disposition, rendered him a general favorite with the officers, as well as with the private soldiers, who always followed with alacrity, wher- ever he led. Of the dangers and perils of the war, he partook largely, being engaged in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, and many others. His superior tact and excellence in discipline attracted the notice of Gen. Steuben, who appointed him inspector of the brigade, which office he filled with great credit to himself, and the entire satisfaction of the baron.
Near the close of the war, he was engaged in the follow- ing affair, which is thus related by Dr. Thatcher, in his jour- nal of military events : "In the mutiny which broke out in January, 1781, in the New Jersey line, stationed at Pomp- ton, in New Jersey, a detachment of five hundred men was ordered out to suppress it. In this detachment Col. Sproat was second in command, and Maj. Oliver one of the field- officers. The distance from the main encampment was thirty or forty miles, and the snow two feet deep ; it took nearly four days to accomplish the march. When they came in sight of the insurgents, Gen. Robert Howe, the commander, ordered his men to load their arms; and as. some of the officers distrusted the faithfulness of their own men, so prevalent was disaffection in the army, that, before making the attack, he harangued the troops on the heinous- ness of the crime of mutiny, and the absolute necessity of military subordination; that the mutineers must be brought to an unconditional submission. The men entered fully into the patriotic spirit of their officers, and marching with the greatest alacrity, surrounded the huts so as to admit of no escape. Gen. Howe ordered his aid-de-camp to command the mutineers to parade in front of their huts, unarmed, in five minutes. Observing them to hesitate, a second message
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was sent, when they instantly obeyed, and paraded in a line, unarmed, two or three hundred in number. The general then ordered three of the ringleaders to be selected for con- dign punishment. These unfortunate men were tried on the spot, Col. Sproat being president of the court-martial, standing on the snow, and they were sentenced to be shot immediately. Twelve of the most active mutineers were selected for their executioners. This was a most painful task, and some of them, when ordered to load their guns, shed tears. Two of them suffered death on the spot; the third one was pardoned, as being less guilty, on the repre- sentation of their officers. Never were men more com- pletely humbled and penitent. Tears of sorrow and of joy streamed from their eyes, and each one seemed to congrat- ulate himself that his forfeited life had been spared. The general then addressed the men in a very pathetic and im- pressive manner : showing the enormity of their crime, and the inevitable ruin to the cause of the country, to which it would lead. They remained true and faithful soldiers to the end of the war."
This was a sorrowful and heart-rending duty to Col. Sproat: with his tender feelings and love for all engaged in the cause of freedom, the effect must have been great. The time made it still more impressive : the depth of winter, the white snow, an emblem of innocence, crimsoned with the blood of his fellow-soldiers, shed by their own comrades, and not in battle, rendered the sight one not to be forgotten while life should last. But order and military subordination demanded this sacrifice to duty, and he could not retreat. These men had served their country faithfully, probably for three or four years; had suffered hunger, and cold, and nakedness ; had sometimes been without any food, and for weeks lived on a half or a third of a ration of the poorest kind of meat. Their wages were often withheld, and when
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paid at all, were in a depreciated government paper, thirty dollars of which, at this time, were worth only one in specie, and there was little prospect of its being any better. Some of them had families at home suffering like themselves. That men should become desperate under such circumstances is human nature; the greatest wonder was that the whole army had not revolted and turned their arms against Con- gress until they had redressed their grievances.
It is greatly to the credit of New England that no revolts or mutinies took place amongst her troops. The strict prin- ciples of obedience impressed in early childhood on her sons by their Puritan fathers, gave them a Spartan cast of char- acter, while the intelligence imparted to their minds by their common schools, gave the whole population a decided su- periority of intellect over the common soldiers of the mid- dle and southern states. Nearly every man was a patriot, and they suffered little or nothing compared with these states, from the effects of Tory principles, which were pro- ductive of more real suffering to the inhabitants, where they prevailed, than all the ravages of the British armies. Well might Washington exclaim, on those trying occasions, "God bless the New England troops!" A mighty debt of grati- tude is still owing to the memory of these patriotic men, who stood firm under all these trials, and accomplished the work of independence in spite of foes without and foes within. Their contests with poverty and want were five times more severe than all their battles with the enemy.
Having served through the war with credit to himself and the regiment to which he belonged, and witnessed the ac- knowledgment of the freedom of his country by the British, and the reception of the United States as an independent sovereignty amongst the nations of the earth, he retired satisfied, to the pursuits of private life. As a proof of his attachment to the common soldiers, and all who were or had
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been engaged in fighting the enemies of his country, the following anecdote is related.
Col. Sproat was, all his life, fond of keen repartee, and a good joke, whenever an opportunity to exercise it occurred. At an early period of the war, while he was a captain, he was at home on a short furlough. His father, as has been before noticed, kept a house of entertainment, more espe- cially for eating than drinking. While there, three private soldiers, on their way home from the army, called for a cold luncheon. His mother set on the table some bread and cheese, with the remains of the family dinner, which Eben- ezer thought rather scanty fare for hungry men, and espe- cially as the bones were already pretty bare. He felt a little vexed, that the defenders of the country were not more bountifully supplied. After satisfying their appetites, they inquired of him, how much was to pay? He replied he did not know, but would ask his mother; so, going to the kitchen door, where she was busy with her domestic con- cerns, he inquired, "Mother, how much is it worth to pick those bones?" She replied, " About a shilling, I suppose." He returned to the room, and taking from the drawer in the bar, three shillings, with a smiling face, handed each man one, wishing them a good day and pleasant journey home. The soldiers departed, much gratified with their kind usage. Soon after they had gone, his mother came in, and asked Ebenezer what he had done with the money for their din- ners ? In apparent amazement, he exclaimed, "Money ! did I not ask you what it was worth to pick those bones ; and you replied, a shilling? I thought it little enough for such a job, and handed them the money from the till, and they are gone." It was such a good joke, and so characteristic of her favorite son, that she bore it without complaining.
After the close of the war, he lived, for some time, in Providence, employing himself occasionally at surveying.
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Here he became acquainted with Miss Catharine Whipple, the daughter of Com. Abraham Whipple, and was united with her in marriage. Her father presented her, as a mar- riage portion, his own dwelling-house and lot, in Westmin- ster street, Providence, and retired to his farm in Cranston, a few miles distant.
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